Legal Opinion
United States v. Byrd
Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces
Decided June 10, 2004No. 03-0561/ARPublishedCited by 12 opinions
1Opinion of the Court
Judge GIERKE
delivered the opinion of the Court.
Military Rule of Evidence 701 [hereinafter M.R.E.] limits opinion testimony by lay witnesses. This ease concerns whether M.R.E. 701 allows a lay witness to interpret what Appellant meant when he wrote certain passages in letters to the witness. We agree with the well-established federal civilian rule that this kind of lay opinion testimony is, with certain limited exceptions, impermissible. Although the military judge improperly allowed a lay witness to offer her opinion about Appellant’s meaning in various passages he wrote to her, we find the…
2Cases cited21 opinions
- United States v. SaccocciaCourt of Appeals for the First Circuit · 1995
- United States v. ElderCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit · 1996
- United States v. SullivanCourt of Appeals for the Armed Forces · 1995
- United States v. Carlos GarciaCourt of Appeals for the Second Circuit · 2002
- United States v. Cornelius Peoples, United States of America v. Xavier LightfootCourt of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit · 2001
16 more not listed; retrieve them via the Exa API.
3Cited by12 opinions
- United States v. HaysCourt of Appeals for the Armed Forces · 2005
- United States v. LopezCourt of Appeals for the Armed Forces · 2017
- United States v. NormanCourt of Appeals for the Armed Forces · 2015
- Loving v. United StatesCourt of Appeals for the Armed Forces · 2009
- United States v. CobleNavy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals · 2017
7 more not listed; retrieve them via the Exa API.